


Anniversary Surprise

by littlemaple



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cardverse, Established Relationship, M/M, Married Couple, New Year's Eve, New Year's Fluff, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 00:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13259880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemaple/pseuds/littlemaple
Summary: During the New Year’s Eve party, King Alfred has just the perfect surprise for his Queen.





	Anniversary Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this based on a prompt I got on Tumblr, so it's also posted there.  
> Happy 2018!

They had been ruling the Kingdom together for ten years.

They were married for eight.

The Clock selected them as Spades’ rightful leaders, but they were the ones to choose each other. The previous monarchs hardly ever had romantic relationships, so it was a surprise to everyone when King Alfred proposed to Queen Arthur on the New Year’s Eve party eight years ago. Cheers filled the ballroom when then Queen nodded with his eyes wet, then hugged the King tight, hiding his face on the King’s shoulder. It had been extremely sweet, and it was all the kingdom talked about for months to come.

After that, even if they wedding had been on May, the monarchs had selected the New Year’s Eve party to celebrate their anniversary — to King Alfred, there was no better day; and although he wouldn’t say it out loud, Queen Arthur agreed, because to him it was extremely romantic.

And Alfred knew that. He knew how much his Queen was a hopeless romantic, and he did his best to impress him whenever possible. Whenever he had to travel to solve international affairs, he’d bring back gifts for the Queen. Eternal icy clovers from Clubs, the delicious golden desserts from Diamonds, and the finest perfumes from Hearts… Alfred always found just the perfect gift for his Queen, even if whenever he came back with a gift Arthur would grumble, “I don’t want gifts, I just want to hold you.” It was adorable, and Alfred knew he meant it, but he also knew Arthur honestly loved the gifts, too.

Therefore, he had been working on the perfect gift for their upcoming ninth anniversary. Every year, while the fireworks were coloring the skies, the monarchs would share a brief kiss and quietly renew their vows with promises for the future and sweet smiles. Then Arthur would give Alfred a book, a sword, a new horse, or a sweater he himself had made in his sparse free time. As for Alfred, he’d gift his Queen with rare herbs, a new pet, some old grimoire he’d found in another kingdom, or a painting.

But finally, for that year the gift he’d been working on in secret had been finally ready. He could barely keep his smiles in whenever he saw the Queen on the days preceding the party. Whenever Arthur would say, “I’m so excited for the fireworks… I love how they look like millions of tiny little stars…” Alfred would have to press his lips together as to not ruin the surprise. He couldn’t let Arthur know, as much as he’d like to tell. It  _needed_  to be a surprise. It’d be a much better gift that way, Alfred knew it.

So, when the day finally came for the party, Alfred accompanied his Queen during the whole evening, chatting up politely with his guests as he anxiously waited for the clock to strike midnight.

“What’s up with you tonight?” Arthur asked him more than four times, suspicious.

“Nothing, honey,” he answered with his most innocent grin, but he could tell Arthur was not buying it by the way he kept glancing at Alfred, squinting his eyes as if it’d help him see something Alfred was not telling. Perhaps he even knew some spell for that, so Alfred tried to even avoid thinking about his surprise.

However, it did not matter because then it was midnight, and they were standing together at the balcony, champagne glasses in hand. The firework show started as usual, with white and blue and purple sparkles illuminating the sky, one after the other, at the same time, all at once. Arthur snuggled closer, and Alfred held in, kissing his forehead. He could see the awe in Arthur’s eyes, shining with the lights.

“Pay attention now,” Alfred said quietly, using his chin to indicate the sky.

Then the balls of light, exploding and falling apart, gave space to something different. Shapes. Heart shapes, rose shapes and then Spades shapes filled the sky in blues and purples and whites. Arthur’s jaw dropped as he stared mesmerized. There were also some clock shapes, circles of white light with a single line in the middle, indicating midnight. The purple heart shapes stopped appearing in the sky and left room for the rose shapes, sparkling in the background while Spades symbols appeared, once, twice, one after the other in the exact same spot in the sky. It appeared nine times, then there was a single, enormous heart shape, and then it was over.

Arthur slowly looked up to Alfred, finding his husband grinning from ear to ear.

“Did you like it?” he asked.

“Of course I did, you!” Arthur answered, rolling his eyes and hugging Alfred, “It was so beautiful! How did you…?”

“I’ve been working on shaping the fireworks for a couple years now, I wanted to make a surprise… I know how much you like them, and, you know…” he rubbed the back of his head, “I love to see you happy, so… I just, well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m happy when you’re happy, and that I want us to be as happy as can be for the next nine, eighteen, all the years to come. And that I’ll do my best to keep surprising you, to keep putting that sparkle in your eyes,” Alfred stopped to take a deep breath, and then held Arthur’s face with his hands, “I love you, Arthur Kirkland. Forever and ever. I’m so happy to rule with you.”

Arthur looked away, tears falling down his red cheeks.

“God, you are too sappy…” he said, because he had to say it, they were in public, after all. But Alfred knew he loved it all, he knew his heart must be beating too fast, he knew his legs must be weak. He knew Arthur loved him back.

“The new armor I had made for you will look so plain now, after this show… I’ll have to work harder for next year, you inconsiderate jerk… that I love…” Arthur said, his voice small, but sweet, and loving.

Alfred laughed loudly, then kissed him.

Another year was blooming, and he was happy to spend it with his Queen.


End file.
